Warriors: Divided Loyalty

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the Jagged Stone for a Clan meeting!" Clearstar yowled and Nightshrike lifted her head from her sparrow, a mouthful of the prey in her mouth. She chewed quickly and swallowed, leaving her half-eaten meal behind to sit between Pebblewhisker and Shadeheart. As she looked over to the medicine cat den where Thorntail was still sick, she saw Leafkit and Jaykit sitting side by side, eyes gleaming. They're being made apprentices. She guessed, turning her attention back to her leader.

"We have two kits among us who have reached their third moon and are ready to become apprentices." Clearstar paused to cough which made the cats around Nightshrike tense. "Come forward, kits."

Nightshrike watched Fennelfur push her kits forward with gleaming eyes. Leafkit and Jaykit padded towards Clearstar, heads held high and tails sticking straight up in the air. The leader leaped down from the Jagged Stone and turned to his Clan, eyes glinting with pride, though they were glossed over.

"Jaykit, from this moment on until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Jaypaw." Clearstar nodded to the apprentice and flicked his tail. "Goldenpatch, you are a strong and fierce warrior and I know you will pass on those traits onto Jaypaw."

"I will, Clearstar," came the honey-like reply of the tom as he padded towards his apprentice and touched noses with the smaller tom.

Clearstar went on. "Leafkit, from this moment on until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Leafpaw." The leader looked around, his gaze falling on Nightshrike. "Nightshrike, you are a skilled fighter and a talented hunter and I know you will pass those traits onto Leafpaw."

Nightshrike nodded and rose to her paws, padding towards her apprentice, who seemed to burst from excitement. As they touched noses, Clearstar cleared his throat. Nightshrike steered her new apprentice towards the crowd and sat down, watching Clearstar closely.

"I also must make an announcement that saddens me deeply," the tom looked over at a certain cat that Nightshrike saw was Echospeck. "Echospeck, come forward."

The she-cat looked solemn as she padded towards the leader, eyes misting and shallow. "Yes, Clearstar." She meowed, voice cracking.

"I, Clearstar, leader of DawnClan renounce your position as Clan deputy." The tom's words were met with gasps of pure shock and horror from the Clan. "Echospeck, tell the Clan what you have done."

As Clearstar stepped back, Echospeck walked closer. "DawnClan, I have no regrets for what I have done and what you are about to hear is the result of me simply falling in love." She paused, her tone growing stronger. "I am expecting kits," her eyes fluttered around the Clan, landing on one cat in particular. Timberskip's eyes were supportive and he had a grin on his face.

Nightshrike couldn't help but feel her fur prickle with unease as she gazed at the medicine cat. Shellfur was staring at Timberskip with wide green eyes. Even he didn't know about their sudden affair. She thought and looked up at Clearstar. The leader's eyes were narrowed as he looked at Timberskip and Echospeck, white paws shifting closer together.

"When these kits are born, I will not treat them differently than any other litter of kits that a queen has given birth to," Shellfur spoke up, breaking the silence. "Even though the birth of these kits are against the Medicine Cat Code, they will be cherished and raised as kits are."

Nightshrike flicked her tail over her paws, rocking back and forth. Clearstar cleared his throat and grasped the attention of his Clan once more. His shoulders were tense and his tail lashed back and forth like a snake.

"Meeting dismissed," was all the leader had to say before turning away and padding towards his den. Nightshrike let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in and turned to Leafpaw, who was looking at her.

"What do we do now?" Her apprentice asked, trembling with excitement as she stole glances at the camp entrance. She wants to tour the territory. Nightshrike looked over at the medicine cat den. But that won't happen just yet.

"You will be cleaning the nursery with Jaypaw before you do anything exciting." Nightshrike saw the excitement drain from Leafpaw's face as she spoke. "When you're done with that, change Hollowstream's bedding and come find me." With a swift nod to Leafpaw, Nightshrike headed for the fresh-kill pile, snatched a squirrel, and headed for Timberskip's den.

As she pushed through the vines that dangled down from the top of the den, Nightshrike immediately smelled the rancid scent of sickness from three nests. Since Thorntail had come down with whitecough, Pebblewhisker and Lichenstorm had joined him with their own cases of illness.

She forced her way through the gross stench of sickness and made her way to Thorntail's nest. Without letting out a breath, she dropped the squirrel at his muzzle and quickly darted out of the den, gasping for air.

Shaking out her fur, Nightshrike scanned the camp and saw Larkflight, Whiteblaze, and Dewpath speaking with each other, tails twitching. Nightshrike trotted towards them, sitting down beside Dewpath. "What's going on?" She asked.

"We're discussing who will take Echospeck's place as deputy," answered Larkflight as he sat next to Whiteblaze, their fur brushing.

"Who do you think will?" Queried Nightshrike, curious to know what some of the others thought. Personally, she wanted to become deputy. If you do, then you are next in line to becoming leader. Reminded the voice. And when you are leader, you can finally destroy OakClan and GlacierClan. Just like you wanted.

Dewpath shrugged. "I feel like Thorntail deserves the role more than any of us." He meowed earnestly. "If I was leader and he wasn't sick, I would've made him deputy seasons ago."

"Did he ever have an apprentice?" Nightshrike asked, looking at the tom.

Whiteblaze flicked her tail. "Who cares?" She meowed boldly, surprising the three cats. "Thorntail is one of the Clan's senior warriors and he's very proud and respected. If Clearstar doesn't make someone like that as deputy, I'd think he was crazy."

Larkflight frowned at his mate, who shifted her paws. "Halfsnow is the oldest senior warrior and trained me," he meowed. "She could be a great deputy and an even better leader."

A snort from a nearby cat made the four cats turn their heads to see Thornbite and Fennelfur padding towards them. "Halfsnow is more strict than you may see," meowed Thornbite. "She was hard on me when I was a kit up to when I became a warrior."

Fennelfur nodded. "Ever since I became an apprentice, Halfsnow pushed me to be the best apprentice in training. Even when I became a warrior, she always hovered and would tell me to go on more patrols and keep hunting."

Dewpath pressed against her, rasping his tongue over her ears. "From what I've heard, Halfsnow is controlling." He meowed, ear twitching as he looked at Whiteblaze, Larkflight, and Nightshrike.

"It got worse when I was expecting Leafpaw and Jaypaw." Fennelfur whimpered, snuggling closer to Dewpath. "She kept telling me that I wasn't old enough to be a mother. She told me that I needed more experience to be a decent mother to my kits."

Nightshrike felt her fur bristle. What has Halfsnow done to these cats?